This invention relates to electronic clinic apparatuses, and more particularly, it relates to those adapted for electronic observation of a living organ and the like of human or animal bodies.
In the following description, it will be set forth in connection with a living heart of a human body. However, it should be understood that the invention should not be limited to heart disease clinic apparatuses, but it can be applied to other living organs such as kidney, liver, lungs, pancreas or brain.
Taking the electrocardiograph as an example, it represents a graph plotting a series of weak electromotive forces appearing at the living heart when it makes beats, against the time, and normally comprises so-called P-loop, QRS-loop, T-loop and U-loop or -wave. However, it has been experienced that only insufficient and rough information is given with such kind of electrocardiograph for making a precise and detailed clinic observation to find various heart diseases such as myocardinal infarcation, right bundle branch block, cardiac failure, specific or non-specific ST-abnormality, ischemic and/or spontaneous pneumothorax.
In the past, more specifically in 1963, Taccardi in Italy made such experiments that about 200 probes were set on a human body surface in the vicinity of the heart and the heart potentials as sensed by these probes were measured simultaneously and successively so as to represent a body surface potential contour diagram, by assuming the body surface to be a plane.
According to our studies, however, it has been found that with such sensing, measuring and signal treating method, much is desired to be added for obtaining enough clinic information necessary for the execution of precise shooting of possible existence of heart diseases, mainly on account of unavoidable significant amounts of outside and inside noise signals.
It has been further found that these noise signals take place from various and indeterminate causes. As an example, when the person under clinic treatment moves bodily for sneezing or the like, the sensing voltage at the probe will vary to a considerable degree. On the other hand, since the body surface under consideration is far from a pure plane, the degree of contact of the probe with the body may naturally differ, depending upon the local position of the probe. Even when the probe is of the electromagnetic type which is normally placed at a certain distance from the body surface, the separating distance may differ locally and occasionally. In addition, the amplifier which is connected with the probe may be subjected to an electric disorder. Further, electrical leads may be influenced capacitically and variously by outside electrical causes.
As a conclusion, one or more of these causes give rise to substantial amount of noises in comparison with relatively small values of sensed electrical potentials in random manner for each probe.
The main purpose of the present invention is to provide an efficient and reliable electronic clinic apparatus for shooting various heart diseases in their kind, location and even suffered degree, in spite of the very presence of the aforementioned considerable amounts of disturbing noise signals.